FERREIRA PROJECTS is proud to announce Float Like a Butterfly by Peter Forde, our upcoming resident artist. Over a 4-week period Forde will be creating a film, a performance and a variety of participatory interactive works, which will be unveiled at the conclusion of his residency. Forde’s new body of work, which will be completed during his residency, will focus on the viewer’s process of engagement in the artwork in an attempt to stimulate a genuine reaction to it.

In the modern world we may be more in touch with our innate needs than we perceive. Our need to hunt and fight still lingers and must be released in staged environments to avoid hurting those we do not intend to hurt. Competitive sports create this staged environment and through the experience of staged fighting in boxing we create a hyper-real release for these needs. In reality we fight to build status, demonstrate our sexual potency and defend territories but in the staged environment we fight to play or emulate these victories. By juxtaposing the world of boxing with that of the performing arts, Forde creates a relationship of movement, tempo and expression that creates a similar release to fighting. When released in a controlled environment of dance and music this aggressive expression can have a similar beneficial release for the participant.

By allowing the viewer to vent their anger onto a punch-bag, dance, play music, view a live boxing performance and release their instincts within a cultural setting they will feel the genuine experience of this transcendence from anger to euphoria. By connecting the viewer’s physical and mental experiences Forde creates a fully immersive and interactive environment that flirts with the real and hyper-real experience.